Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Hand weaving

We meet in each other's homes and studios, all around the area, once a month. We don't call our group anything particular, unless it's 2nd Mondays. We go to Dell, Asbury Ridge, Norwegian Hollow, Viola, Viroqua, Avalanche, Jug Creek. We each show up, bringing what we have to offer, sometimes an apple salad, sometimes what we've been weaving, knitting or spinning. Or, we bring our sad or funny stories about where we've traveled, what we've seen since the last time we were together. Sometimes it seems hard to take the time out from work to get there. But, not one moment of our precious time is wasted with idle conversation, and the conversation (and laughter) starts right away, and covers a lot of ground.

We are friends, we are mostly weavers, and we are women. When I brought my freshly woven wrist warmers, I'd hoped to find a hand model. These women took the stack from my hands and spontaneously put them on. One pair was strung together, so two women had to stay very close to each other while they moved to the window to take a picture of their interwoven hands. Angie took the beautiful picture with her new camera. These laughing friends of mine, putting their hands together in a circle, with my weaving on their wrists, was warmhand modeling I never imagined.

Can you share more about your wrist warmers? I'd love to see a closeup, more about how you made them. Did you seam them or do doubleweave tubes? Did you sew in a piece of elastic or have another way to gather?

You have a very nice group that meets and you talk about it in a very warm way. I know and understand how hard it seems to go away, and then obviously you always got your precious time. I get inspired when I see your beautiful wrist warmers. I like them! The mixed colours is peppy.

Thank you, all. You should know I count each of you in this circle of friends, and artists, too.

Peg, the doubleweave idea occurred to me, but I make these simply as a rectangle with a velveteen cased elastic band inside. I sew a handseam to join the selvedges, and inside, to finish the velveteen casing.

I just discovered your work while surfing the web and it is absolutely beautiful. Your use of colour, texture and weave strucutres are wonderful and I love your photography. I am a textile designer from Scotland, it seems you love what you do !!